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Israeli Medicine - Medical Articles

IsraCast is proud to announce a unique collaboration with the magazine "Healthy To Know" - the Israeli magazine of medicine, health and lifestyle. The artilces will present personal interviews with specialists, an overview of medical institutions in the country, technological innovations and more.

IsraCast Articles

Heart disease is a well-known killer. Just one decade ago, the WHO (World Health Organization) released its findings showing that heart disease has become a global epidemic with approximately 17 million people dying each year from heart attack and stroke; at the time of publishing, this made up nearly one-third of deaths globally; and the WHO then prospected that this number would only rise with time. Thankfully, medical research has produced some significant advances to combat this medical threat and continues to develop innovative methods to treat and prevent heart disease. Not surprisingly, a number of these advances (and ongoing research) are coming from none other than Israel. IsraCast went to Shaare Zedek Medical Hospital to learn more.

Fans of Hollywood’s Iron Man movie series are used to seeing hero Tony Stark manipulate 3-D holograms to create scientific wonders. Real View, an Israeli medical holography company is bringing fantasy to reality with 3-D holograms that doctors can use to save lives.

A novel wearable device, already used on nearly 2,000 patients to slow the growth of cancerous glioblastoma brain tumors using electrical fields, is now being tested to judge its effectiveness against other types of solid tumors. The 15-year-old company’s Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) technology is being tested on ovarian and pancreatic cancer patients and patients with cancers that have spread to the brain.

It is common to make fun of men for acting like “big babies” when they’re even mildly sick. According to Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld, who heads the Shlomo and Pola Zabludowicz Center of Autoimmune Diseases in the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, there is a physiological basis for this behavior.

Indeed, says the world-renowned Israeli autoimmunologist, prolific author and founder and editor of the Israel Medical Association Journal, Autoimmunity Reviews and J Autoimmunity: “Women are literally the stronger gender, with a better immune system. Not only do they outlive men, but when a woman has a cold, she goes about her business, and when a man has one, he takes to his bed and cries for a cup of tea.” But this stronger immune system is also why, explains Shoenfeld, “with a few exceptions, autoimmune diseases attack women more than men, and usually at childbearing ages.”

Imagine buying a kit at your local pharmacy to test for oral cancer. That may become a reality, thanks to Prof. Dror Fixler and his team at the Advanced Light Microscopy Laboratory at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. They have invented a mouthwash embedded with gold nanoparticles — a non-invasive optical system that detects cancer of the head, neck, tongue or throat. This technology can diagnose cancers that currently must be confirmed by surgical biopsy. The solution was successfully tested in animal models, showing 97 percent specificity and 87.5% sensitivity.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), different forms of cancer are responsible for over 8 million deaths each year, with over 14 million new cases occurring globally each year. For the first time, BioTheraputics Company, Vaxil, is developing a cancer treatment called ImMucin that is not meant to treat a present disease, but to prevent its reoccurrence by training the immune system to recognize and attack cancerous cells.

Many have only recently become familiarized with Lou Gehrig's disease, also know as ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), with the recent popularity of "The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge," which has taken social media by storm, and succeeded in raising millions of dollars for research - specifically, a comprehensive study of the human genome to determine genetic factors in onset and progression of this degenerative disease. What you may not have heard, however, is that before there was the Ice Bucket Challenge to chill the spine, warm the heart, and open the wallet, Israeli biotech company, BrainStorm, has been tirelessly working in the background for years, developing a new and effective treatment for ALS (as well as other debilitating neurodegenerative diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease) using adult stem cells, and the results will astound you!

In August of 2013 Israeli Company, Given Imaging, received FDA approval, as well as approval for reimbursement by Japan's Central Social Insurance Medical Council for their PillCam SB3. Instead of subjecting themselves to the infamous colonoscopy, patients may start to see a more appealing option on the horizon very soon. This will also be a helpful solution for those who are unable to undergo colonoscopies for health reasons. According to No Camels – Israel Innovation News assessments, PillCam is significantly less expensive, costs roughly $500, while colonoscopies generally range from $800-$1,200.

Obesity brings on it’s wings health and psychological disorders as well as serious diseases, and in itself can be defined as a disease. With all the severe results of the phenomenon of obesity, the medical professional cannot save the day and cannot be the only address for resolving the problem. "There are solutions, but their implementation requires an overall commitment from the authorities, food industry, advertisers, Medical Association and by us ourselves”.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University are developing a new family of medicines that could provide preventive treatment for cancer, or turn existing cancer into a chronic disease that one can live with for years.

Research efforts are concentrated within six core areas that were identified when the Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials was established. Each research area has its own dedicated Center within the Institute. The six centers of excellence are: Nano-Materials Center, Nano-Medicine Center, The Dahan Nano-Energy Center, Nano-Magnetism Center, Nano-Cleantech Center and Nano-Photonics Center.

The best way to prevent and remove infections is
through the natural 'sterilising' action of the
immune response that combines elements of
both innate and adaptive immunity to ward off foreign
pathogens without medical intervention. The immune
system 'remembers' the cleared foreign antigens to
speed up its response to re-infection. The immune
system in most cancer patients can still completely
destroy viruses and bacteria. The ferocity and
specificity of this response can be witnessed in the
way an inadequately suppressed immune system can
completely destroy a large transplanted organ, while
sparing one’s own (self) tissues. This destructive
effect would be beneficial for cancer therapy if it could
be directed at tumours.

Ischemic heart disease caused by a narrowing of the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. During this process- called atherosclerosis- calcium and fats accumulate on blood vessel walls causing considerable arteries narrowing and decreasing the ability to move oxygenated blood to the heart.

Researchers from the Hebrew University have succeeded in isolating a variant of the Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV-HUJ), which usually affects birds, in order to specifically target cancer cells. The research, which has already cleared the first phase of clinical trials, is already patented and if all goes well it might receive an approval for clinical use, changing the way we think about viruses forever.

What is the connection between the acceptance of Israel into the esteemed OECD, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation & Development, and the miraculous recovery of a youngster from India from a critical stage of leukemia? Simply this - it illustrates why the prestigious OECD has now accepted the Jewish state as a deserving member for her record of achievement.

How many face-lifts should a woman have in her lifetime? How early should a face-lift be conducted? These are just some of the questions discussed by Dr. Bianca Rosenberg-Hagen, a leading Israeli plastic surgeon in a frank and wide ranging interview with IsraCast. Dr. Rosenberg-Hagen, who specialized in plastic-surgery at the Montefiore-Einstein Medical Center in New York, also has timely advice for both men and women, including those with breast cancer.

A new Israeli technology makes use of genetic engineering to allow the body to produce new blood vessels that can bypass obstructed arteries. A study conducted at Carmel Medical Center suggests that use of tissue engineering will result in an international breakthrough in the field of blood vessel bypasses - a development that may prevent the performance of bypass surgeries in situations of obstructed arteries.

The Bone Marrow Transplantation Department at Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem has been at the forefront of research and clinical treatment since this field started playing a major role in the treatment of cancer. Its department director, Prof. Reuven Or has just returned from a working visit to India where he gave seminars at three hospitals and participated as a consultant in the opening of the new Bone Marrow Transplantation department at the Ruby Hall Clinic in the Pune urban region. In an exclusive interview with David Essing, Dr. Or also disclosed that more joint projects are now underway.

Israeli medical doctor developed a revolutionary bandage that can replace both ordinary bandages and Tourniquet and can even be used to treat burns. The new bandage has already proved itself by saving lives of soldiers and civilians in Israel and South Africa in recent years. The Israeli military and Red Cross are considering the bandage, and its inventor hopes that when it enters mass production its low price and superior performance will allow it to save lives across the world.

In a recent scientific study conducted by a team of researchers from the Technion, a possible link between microwave radiation, similar to the type found in cellular phones, and different kinds of damage to the visual system was found. At least one kind of damage seems to accumulate over time and not heal, challenging the common view and leading the researchers to the assertion that the duration of exposure is not less important than the intensity of the irradiation. The researchers also emphasized that existing exposure guidelines for microwave radiation might have to change.

An Israeli company developed a new technology for water disinfection. It uses ultra violet (UV) light to disinfect water and is 10,000 more effective then existing techniques. With impending regulatory changes in the U.S. and other countries, the move from chemical disinfectants to green non-toxic advanced disinfection solutions can improve the safety of the water while reducing its cost. The new system is also strong enough to kill the kind of biological agents bio-terrorists might use inside water reservoirs.

According to a joint Israeli-American study, cholesterol-reducing drugs can lower the risk of developing colorectal cancer. The first large-scale research on the beneficial effects of cholesterol-reducing drugs on colorectal cancer was conducted in Israel over the past six years. The research showed that people who used cholesterol reducing drugs had a 47 percent reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer compared with those who did not take them.

In research conducted at the Hebrew University, a method for controlling bacterial activity without antibiotics was developed. The research showed how it is possible to interfere with the communication of groups of bacteria thus enabling new ways of fighting bacterial infections and disease caused by germs as well as ways to help beneficial bacteria to multiply.

Israeli scientists working with the financial backing of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have developed a biochip that can detect toxic substances in drinking water. When the device will be available it will be the size of a credit card and will be able to analyze a water sample in less than ten minutes.

Researchers at the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem have discovered that a simple blood test may enable psychiatrists to predict if a person will develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder while still in the emergency room a few hours after the traumatic event occurs.

An Israeli research team has developed a vaccine that significantly strengthens the bodys immune system against the autoimmune response caused by HIV infection. This breakthrough could dramatically improve the treatment of AIDS patients.

A preparation developed by Israeli researchers from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology - destroys the Anthrax pathogen and the toxins it secretes into the bloodstream .This is the first step on the way to making an effective drug against this potentially hazardous bio-terrorism weapon.

Two Israeli scientists have successfully developed a new technique for creating molecules that will be able to specifically target cancer cells. These molecules will replace some of the currently used chemotherapy treatments while avoiding most of the side effects caused by them.

Research that aims at understanding and manipulating the way cells grow and age may soon help bone marrow transplants as well as chemotherapy patients to better deal with their treatments and prevent the creation of new cancer tumors.

Non-invasive technique developed in Israel might open a new area in cancer treatment as high intensity ultrasound replaces the old-fashioned surgical knife.The new treatment is already in use with breast cancer patients and is being administered at advanced medical centers in Europe, Japan and Israel and the FDA advisory panel has recommended it for approval in the U.S.

A new technique that can accurately diagnose anxiety disorders by performing a simple blood test, was developed at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The researchers hope that the anxiety blood test will soon make its way into hospitals and E.R. rooms and give doctors and psychiatrists a quick and precise tool for examining, and eventually treating, these disorders. The team has recently started work on another common illness - depression. They hope to find a way to diagnose and finally treat the millions who suffer from this illness as well.

The past few years have witnessed a significant increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism, a childhood disorder that affects, language, communication, and social skills. According to the American Health Departments CDC (center for disease control), currently autism affects as many as 1 out of 300 children.

Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in reversing brain birth defects in animal models, using stem cells to replace defective brain cells. The work of Prof. Joseph Yanai and his associates at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School was presented at the Tel Aviv Stem Cells Conference last spring and is expected to be presented and published nest year at the seventh annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Barcelona, Spain.

The Bone Marrow Transplantation Department at Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center operates as a national center for bone marrow transplantation and stem-cell-based medicine. The department uses stem cells from various sources including bone marrow, peripheral blood, umbilical cord blood and the placenta.

New advances on the fight against cancer have recently been announced by Israeli scientists. One is a new cancer detection method using optoelectronic technology to detect minuscule concentration of cancer cells. Another is a new treatment method that uses the bodys own immune system to respond to cancer as if it was a virus.